The Call
by anthfan
Summary: Short oneshot dealing with the missing phone call from 'Man in the Morgue'
1. Chapter 1

Spoilers: The Man in the Morgue

A/N: Just a one-shot dealing with the missing phone call and the missing time. And maybe it goes a little off from the show cause I want more B/B!

"Dr. Brennan…..Dr.Brennan….." The voice was fading, getting softer. She wasn't focused on it, more concerned with staying upright while her mind spun trying to determine how she had lost a day. Everything was fuzzy, muddled. She wasn't able to think, and that more than anything frightened her. The receiver was hurting her ear and she let it fall to the table.

How did she end up here? What had happened the day before? Why was she so injured? The knowledge that she had not been in control was starting to hit her, making her shake. The one thing she relied on more than anything was control, especially over herself. She knew she needed to be treated but more than that she needed to find out what happened and there was only one person she trusted to help her with that.

Feeling galvanized now that she had a mission she scanned the room looking for her cell phone. Spying it on a table across the room she slowly rose and steadied before moving. She had almost made it when a wave of dizziness hit her and she fell into the table. Luckily, the object of her quest landed within reach and she reached for it gratefully.

By the time she heard the fourth ring she had almost given up and then a gruff, slightly irritated voice broke the silence. "Bones, I realize that you have some whacked out notion of what a vacation really is, but I beg of you could you at least wait until the sun was up here before you call to share."

She was silent for a moment, the normality of his sarcasm startling her since everything around her was as far from normal as possible. "B..B..Booth" she started, shocked at the hollow tone to her voice, it didn't sound like her at all.

"Bones. What's wrong?' he asks, suddenly completely attuned that something wasn't right.

"Uh…I don't know. I lost a day. There's blood….I can't find my earring…I don't…" she trailed off knowing that she wasn't making much sense but unable to be clearer.

"Blood! Bones, what are you talking about?" his concern evident.

"I woke up in my bathroom, I don't know how I got there….I think I need stitches…I can't remember what happened. I don't know what happened to me Booth." She could tell that her words were becoming more difficult to understand even though she was trying as hard as she could to make them intelligible.

She could hear noises in the background now, drawers being opened, muffled sounds and what sounded like the slamming of a door, then the unmistakable sound of Booth's black SUV being started.

"Bones, I need you to listen to me. You with me?"

"Yeah, I'm here." She responded tiredly

" I need to know where you're at. Can you tell me that?" his voice softer now

"Uh… the Rouge Saisons, on St.Peter's."

"Ok, that's good. Now I need you to get off the phone with me and call the police, you need to get to a hospital." He insisted

"Ok…oh…no hospitals, they're all gone now." It was getting much harder to focus now. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew falling asleep would be bad but it was hard to fight.

"You need to call the police Temperance. Do you hear me!" he raised his voice hoping it would get her attention, he was getting worried about how she sounded.

"I will, it'll be ok." She said, now wondering why she had called him, she shouldn't have bothered him.

"I'm almost to National now, I'll be on the first flight down, shouldn't be more than a few hours. You should be all fixed up by then ok." He tried to sound more reassuring than he felt.

"You don't need to come….I'm sorry…don't" she apologized, she hadn't called him expecting him to come.

"I'm coming Bones. You do what you're told for once." He ordered as he slammed his car door behind him and raced for the terminal.

"Booth…..what happened to me?" she sounded almost scared and not like the Temperance Brennan he was used to.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out, I promise. I'll be there soon." He held his breath for a moment before ending the call and turned his attention to the departures board searching for a flight going to New Orleans.

She listed to the dial tone for a minute before summoning the effort to turn the phone off. She knew she needed to get some help but she was so tired and her head hurt too much to keep it upright any more. Letting herself sink to the floor she told herself she would rest for just a moment before calling.

Seely Booth felt a brief flash of pity for the poor woman unfortunate enough to be dealing with him at the ticket counter. He had found a flight leaving within twenty minutes but she was trying to tell him that they couldn't sell any more tickets for it. He tried pleading, he tried begging, and then he pulled out his badge and told her it was an emergency. Within two minutes, he was charging for the gate. Within five, he had secured his weapon with the Air Marshall and within ten they were taxiing down the runway. The plane was in the air before he realized he hadn't contacted his boss or anyone at the Jeffersonian. Those were things he could deal with later though, after he knew what had happened to her.

It took Booth less than five hours to be at her hotel. Throwing some money at the cab driver he was out of the car before it had fully stopped. He raced into the lobby and flashed his badge at the woman behind the desk. "Where was Dr. Brennan taken?"

"I'm sorry, what do you mean taken?" the clerk asked, clearly confused

"What hospital, or clinic? Where did she go?" he asked, exasperated

"Is Dr.Brennan ill? I know she was supposed to leave today but she sounded very distracted earlier when I called to let her know her shuttle was here. I assumed she had changed her mind and decided to stay."

"She didn't call the police!" Booth was already heading for the stairs before swinging back to the clerk. "What room is she in? And call an ambulance!"

"302, go left at the top of the stairs. Is Dr.Brennan sick?"

"Just call!" Booth barked and continued up the stairs

"Bones! Bones! Answer me Bones!" he yelled as he entered the unlocked door. He had drawn his weapon as a precaution but quickly holstered it as he came around a corner and saw her crumpled form.

"Damnit Bones! You can't ever do what you're told!" he said as he dropped to the floor beside her, quickly scanning her injuries as he did so. The head wound looked nasty but had stopped bleeding. He gently brushed the matted hair out of her face as best he could and tried to straighten her limbs out a bit, noticing the bruising on her wrist as he did so. He cupped her cheek and moved her head towards him, trying to get her to wake up. "Bones….Temperance….Wake up. It's Booth, you need to wake up now." He got no response and tried again. "Tempe, please wake up. I told you I'd come. Come on Bones! Wake up!" getting frustrated he raised her shoulders up and leaned her against him hoping it would help. The change in position seemed to do the trick and he saw her eyes start to flicker open. Confusion was clear across her face.

"B…Booth, wh…what are you doing here?" she asked, her voice sounding it's worst now.

"You called me remember? You were supposed to hang up and call for help. What happened?"

"I uh…I was tired, my head hurt, I was just going to rest." She closed her eyes again and leaned closer to him resting her head on his shoulder "I'm so tired"

"Nope. No sleeping Bones, I may not be a doctor but I know sleeping when you've got a knock on the head isn't good. The clerk called an ambulance, we'll get you help soon."

"That sounds good…" her voice trailed off and she became heavier against him

"Uh-uh Bones. Stay awake." He cradled the back of her head and turned so that he could face her directly "Open your eyes!" she did, and for a brief moment he allowed himself and her to feel the worry and concern he'd had for the last few hours. She gave him a small smile of reassurance before they were interrupted by the entering paramedics.

"Step back please sir." One of the young medics said as the other was setting up the stretcher.

Without taking his eyes off her he slid his free arm beneath her legs and stood up in one smooth motion and placed her on the gurney. Surprising them both with his next action, he pressed a quick kiss onto her head away from her injury.

Finally he turned to the medic with a look that dared them to challenge him. "I'm F.B.I and where she goes I go."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well, I thought this would be a one-shot but it's still hanging around so…it's now a two-shot. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

The ride to the nearest operating hospital took twice as long as it should have. Closed roads, debris, and non-working stoplights made themselves known. Booth sat in the back of the ambulance watching the medics work on his partner. He knew it was a good sign that she had regained consciousness when he arrived at the hotel but she was worrying him again.

Finally they arrived and he jumped out after the stretcher, prepared to follow it wherever it went when a hand on his chest stopped him.

'Sir, you can't go with them.' A nurse armed with pen and clipboard informed him.

Booth matched her stern look with a glare of his own and brought his badge back out. 'This says otherwise.' And made to continue when she stopped him again.

'You may be F.B.I. but we need to know who we're working on. Is she an agent also? There is protocol to follow when law enforcement is brought in.'

'She's my partner.' He barked impatiently. The stretcher holding Bones was now out of sight.

'Alright then. Fill this out so we can do our best to help Ms…'

'It's 'Dr.' Dr. Temperance Brennan.' He retorted, but taking the clipboard. If filling this out would get him to Bones, he'd do it.

The nurse gave him a kind smile and directed him towards a wall of chairs. 'Let me have that when you're done and we'll get you back to see your partner as soon as we can.'

Booth began to fill out the forms but quickly realized he didn't have much information past name and address. He glanced at his watch and knew that he needed to call the Jeffersonian and let them know what had happened. If he got Angela on the phone he was sure she'd be able to help him fill in the details.

The phone rang twice before the upbeat voice of Angela Montenegro answered. 'Medico/Legal lab, you've reached Angela.'

'Uh hey Angela, it's Booth.'

'Hey Booth, you know Brenn's still in New Orleans right? Hope you don't have a new case for us, she'd be upset if she missed it.'

'Well, actually that's why I'm calling. I'm in New Orleans.'

'Wh…why are you in New Orleans? Is Brenn ok?' she was concerned and Booth's strained tones weren't assuring her.

'Not exactly. She called me this morning, disoriented, hurt. I couldn't get much out of her. I told her to hang up and call the police and that I was on the way but she must have passed out after I got off the phone with her.' Angela's gasp of shock made him pause. 'When I got here she was still out, she woke up for a moment but…' he trailed off recognizing that he really had no answers.

'Oh my god! What happened to her?'

'I don't know. I'm at the hospital now, hopefully she'll be up soon and she can tell me what's going on.'

'Do you want me to come down? I can be there by tonight.'

'No, I don't think that's necessary. I'll keep you updated though. You can help me though with something. I'm trying to fill out these damn hospital forms.'

With Angela's help he had the forms completed in a few minutes. Returning them to the nurse he hoped she wouldn't keep him from seeing Bones anymore.

'Thank you, they're still working on Dr. Brennan and a detective from the local P.D. has been called. I'm afraid it'll be a while longer.'

'Look, I'm her partner! You can't expect me to just sit here and wait patiently!'

'I can and I do Agent. Sit. Wait.' She pointed back towards the chair he had been sitting in with a look that told him there wasn't another option.

Booth growled in disgust and stomped back the way he came, but he didn't sit. Pacing seemed like a better idea.

Time had apparently decided to start going backwards he concluded as he stalked the waiting room. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and giving a quick glance to make sure the nurse wasn't looking he headed off the corridor where they had taken Bones. After passing several rooms and seeing no trace of her he stopped a passing a nurse and between his charm and another flash of his badge got the information he wanted. He had just spotted the correct room when there was a yell behind him, the nurse from the waiting room.

'Sir! You can't go in there! Sir!'

Not waiting for her to catch up he quickened his pace and barged into Bones' room, immediately looking for her and feeling grateful that she was conscious and sitting up.

'Bones! Are you alright? What happened?' he questioned as he approached the exam table she sat on, ignoring the presence of other people in the room.

'Booth! I thought I told you not to come.' She countered, seemingly affected by his being there.

'Yeah, well lucky for you I listen as well as you do! You'd still be passed out on your hotel floor if I hadn't come.'

'Ahem'

Another voice broke in and Booth looked up from his examination of Bones to notice the woman standing to his right.

'Dr. Brennan, care to explain.?' She asked gesturing to Booth

'Detective, this is Agent Seely Booth with the F.B.I., he's my partner.' Brennan explained.

'Partner huh? Flew all the way from D.C. in time to find you in your hotel room passed out.'

Booth cut her off 'Look, I think we need to be working on what happened here.' Turning back to Bones he continued 'Who did this to you?'

'That's the thing Booth, I can't remember.'

'You can't remember? What do you mean? You have to remember this.' He said waving a hand to indicate her injuries.

'I remember the day before, working at the morgue, but the next thing I know is I'm waking up in my bathroom and calling you. That's it. I've lost an entire day.' Her concern was beginning to show now and she dropped her gaze hoping he couldn't see her fear.

For the first time Booth addressed the doctor. 'What's this about? She really can't remember?'

'It's not unusual with a head trauma. Sometimes the amnesia is temporary, sometimes it may never come back.'

The room was silent for a moment before the detective spoke. 'I'm going to take this evidence to be tested. Why don't you let your 'partner' give you a ride back to your hotel, the team I sent over should be done by now. I'll be in touch.'

Within an hour Bones was stitched, splinted and ready to leave. Booth arranged for a car from the New Orleans field office and was quiet as they drove back to the hotel. They managed to avoid the desk clerk as they made their way to the elevator. Once inside the room it was evident, the place had been thoroughly examined.

Brennan opened her half-packed suitcase and grabbed some clothing. 'I'm just going to go change.' She said and pointed towards the bedroom.

'Are you sure you don't need a rest? You were just released from the hospital.'

'I'm fine Booth. And I need to find out what happened to me. I can't take not knowing.' Her eyes showing how much the mystery was affecting her.

He nodded, consenting to her request and watched as the door shut behind her. He wandered for a few minutes before making his way towards the bathroom. The door was shut and once he opened it he wished he had left it that way. The place was chaos. Blood, broken glass, all evidence that something terrible had happened there. He felt his stomach drop and knelt in the doorway, hanging his head down trying not to imagine what she had gone through. He was so lost he didn't hear her approach. A hand lying lightly on his back shook him out of his thoughts.

He stood quickly but her hand never moved. 'God Tempe, what happened to you.' He said so softly he didn't think she had heard him.

'You'll figure it out. I know you will.' She said just as quietly.

Booth turned and reached down to grab her good hand. 'Well, let's figure this out then.' Flashing her one of his trademark grins and pulled her towards the door.


End file.
